Golf club head

Abstract

A golf club head includes a body defining an interior cavity. The body includes a sole positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown positioned at a top portion, and a skirt positioned around a periphery between the sole and crown. The body has a forward portion and a rearward portion. The club head includes a face positioned at the forward portion of the body. The face defines a striking surface having an ideal impact location at a golf club head origin. Embodiments include club heads for a fairway wood that at least one of a high moment of inertia, a low center-of-gravity, a thin crown and a high coefficient of restitution. A sleeve for easily disconnecting a shaft to the club head allows for selective adjustment of the head's loft and lie angle.

We claim: 
     
       1. A golf club head, comprising:
 a body defining an interior cavity, a sole portion positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown portion positioned at a top portion, a face positioned at a forward portion of the body and having an ideal impact location, a rear positioned at a rearward portion of the body, and a maximum above ground height; 
 a sleeve for adjustably securing a shaft to the golf club head to selectively adjust at least one of a loft angle, lie angle, and face angle of the club head; 
 wherein the golf club head has a center of gravity (CG) located at an above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup), a center-of-gravity z-axis extends vertically through the CG, and a center-of-gravity x-axis extends horizontally through the CG in a direction generally tangential to the face at the ideal impact location; 
 wherein the golf club head has a Izz moment of inertia about the center-of-gravity z-axis measured in kg-mm 2 , and a Ixx moment of inertia about the center-of-gravity x-axis measured in kg-mm 2 ; 
 wherein the Ixx moment of inertia is related to the above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup) by the equation Ixx≥7·Zup+60; 
 wherein the golf club head has a coefficient of restitution (COR) having a value of at least about 0.80 as measured at three locations including a first location at a center of the face and two locations spaced by 7.5 mm on either side of the center of the face along a horizontal axis passing through the center of the face; and 
 wherein the golf club head has a balance point located on the face and the balance point is no more than 3 mm above of the center of the face, and the face has an average face thickness that ranges from about 1.0 mm to about 4.5 mm. 
 
     
     
       2. The golf club head of  claim 1 , where the Izz moment of inertia and the Ixx moment of inertia are related to the above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup) by the equation Ixx+Izz≥20·Zup+165. 
     
     
       3. The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein the Izz moment of inertia is related to the above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup) by the equation Izz≥13·Zup+105. 
     
     
       4. The golf club head of  claim 2 , further including a channel positioned in the sole of the club head and extending into the interior cavity of the club head a channel depth, the channel extending substantially in a heel-to-toe direction and having a channel length and a channel width, and the channel comprising at least a front channel wall and a rear channel wall. 
     
     
       5. The golf club head of  claim 4 , wherein the channel width of at least a portion of the channel is at least 3.5 mm. 
     
     
       6. The golf club head of  claim 5 , wherein the channel length is at least 50 mm. 
     
     
       7. The golf club head of  claim 4 , further comprising a weight port positioned in the sole of the club head rearward of the channel, the weight port extending into the interior cavity of the club head, and at least one weight having a weight mass between about 0.5 gram and about 20 grams, the at least one weight configured to be installed at least partially within the weight port positioned in the sole of the club head. 
     
     
       8. The golf club head of  claim 7 , wherein the weight port is adjacent to the channel. 
     
     
       9. The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein the golf club head has a maximum dimension from the forward portion to the rearward portion that is greater than about 85 mm. 
     
     
       10. The golf club of  claim 1 , further including a sole mass pad having a mass pad thickness that is at least twice a thickness of a portion of the sole, and the above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup) is less than 17 mm. 
     
     
       11. The golf club head of  claim 10 , further including a thin sole portion located between the mass pad and the face, wherein the thin sole portion has a thin sole thickness that is at least 75% less than the mass pad thickness. 
     
     
       12. The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein the coefficient of restitution of the golf club head measured at the center of the face is 0.81 or greater, and a difference in the coefficient of restitution (COR) as measured at the center of the face and a coefficient of restitution as measured at a point that is 7.5 mm above the center of the face along a vertical axis passing through the center of face is less than 0.03. 
     
     
       13. The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the golf club head body is substantially formed from a combination of a titanium alloy and a graphitic composite. 
     
     
       14. The golf club head of  claim 1 , further comprising a slot in the sole and a weight port positioned in the sole of the club head rearward of the slot, the weight port extending into the interior cavity of the club head, and at least one weight having a weight mass between about 0.5 gram and about 20 grams, the at least one weight configured to be installed at least partially within the weight port positioned in the sole of the club head. 
     
     
       15. The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the golf club head body is substantially formed from a combination of a steel alloy, a titanium alloy, and a graphitic composite. 
     
     
       16. The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a characteristic time measured at the center of the face is no less than 241 microseconds and at least a portion of the face has a thickness less than about 2.2 mm. 
     
     
       17. A golf club head, comprising:
 a body defining an interior cavity, a sole portion positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown portion positioned at a top portion, a face positioned at a forward portion of the body and having an ideal impact location, a rear positioned at a rearward portion of the body, a maximum above ground height, and a maximum dimension from the forward portion to the rearward portion of greater than about 100 mm; 
 a sleeve for adjustably securing a shaft to the golf club head to selectively adjust at least one of a loft angle, lie angle, and face angle of the club head; 
 a weight port formed in the body, the weight port extending into the interior cavity of the club head, and at least one weight configured to be installed at least partially within the weight port; 
 wherein the golf club head has a center of gravity (CG) located at an above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup), a center-of-gravity z-axis extends vertically through the CG, and a center-of-gravity x-axis extends horizontally through the CG in a direction generally tangential to the face at the ideal impact location; 
 wherein the golf club head has a Izz moment of inertia about the center-of-gravity z-axis measured in kg-mm 2 , and a Ixx moment of inertia about the center-of-gravity x-axis measured in kg-mm 2 ; 
 wherein the Ixx moment of inertia is related to the above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup) by the equation Ixx≥7·Zup+60; 
 wherein the Izz moment of inertia is related to the above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup) by the equation Izz13·Zup+105; 
 wherein the Izz moment of inertia and the Ixx moment of inertia are related to the above ground center-of-gravity location (Zup) by the equation Ixx+Izz≥20·Zup+165; 
 wherein the golf club head has a coefficient of restitution (COR) having a value of at least about 0.80 as measured at three locations including a first location at a center of the club face and two locations spaced by 7.5 mm on either side of the center of the club face along a horizontal axis passing through the center of the club face; 
 wherein a difference in the coefficient of restitution (COR) as measured at the center of the face and a coefficient of restitution as measured at a point that is 7.5 mm below the center of the face along a vertical axis passing through the center of face is less than 0.03, and a difference in the coefficient of restitution (COR) as measured at the center of the face and a coefficient of restitution as measured at a point that is 7.5 mm above the center of the face along a vertical axis passing through the center of face is less than 0.03; and 
 wherein the face has an average face thickness that ranges from about 1.0 mm to about 4.5 mm. 
 
     
     
       18. The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein the coefficient of restitution of the golf club head measured at the center of the face is 0.81 or greater and the golf club head has a balance point located on the face and the balance point is no more than 3 mm above the center of the face. 
     
     
       19. The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein the golf club head body is substantially formed from a combination of a titanium alloy and a graphitic composite. 
     
     
       20. The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein at least a portion of the weight port intersects a vertical plane including a CG y-axis or an origin y-axis.